Changing Lanes

This is so schematic, the film-makers must have put flags on a map of New York to remind them which character goes where. Affleck is Gavin Bannek, a lawyer about to fleece the trust fund of a recently deceased tycoon. Jackson is Doyle Gipson, a recovering alcoholic whose wife wants a divorce. On the way to court, their cars collide. Gipson's late for his case; the judge rules against him. Bannek makes it in time, but finds he's lost a crucial document. Gipson has it, of course. Thanks to a random rush-hour accident, both men now want revenge. British director Michell cross-cuts energetically between the adversaries as they hurtle around the city, trying to do each other damage. A slickly shot, intelligent thriller, it's buoyed up by an exceptional performance from Jackson, who brings crumpled dignity and pathos to his habitual loser. But however desperate they become, we know that in the end these essentially good-hearted men will try to do the right thing.